Monday Morning Sparty

Does anybody else have to deal with a co-worker/MSU grad today? It is one of life's worst experiences when we lose. This guy I worked with started with my company in December 2007 (AKA following an epic Sparty meltdown), so I never got to walk in and face him after a UM win. He is so smug, so pleased with Cousins and the Sparty D. Next week he'll probably come in saying something like "THe Illini were pretty good. It was a good win. We're really turning the season around", having no idea how truly terrible the Illini really are. God I know I've said it before but Sparty is the worst. I can go years w/o having to deal with a Buckeye, but I have to see Sparties every day. It is so hard to face them after a loss.

Phineas: Removing prepositions makes it more condescending.

and is a fair-weather fan but it was something along the lines of "I knew that you were going to come in here and be a douche, congratulations on winning your Super Bowl." He started walking way after I said the first part.

Now another Sparty guy (who was a walk-on) came up in a more joking manner about the game and I joked back with him and he said "Michigan just played a horrible game". If he's going to be a douchey Sparty fan I will go off on him. If he's being respectful (which is a rarity for sparty fans) then I'll be respectful back also.

I live in Cleveland (you can see the fires of Mt. Doom if you look to the south). Buckeye fans are by far the worst - before, during and after the game. In fact, they are turds year-round. ND is second and MSU is third. I hate losing to Sparty, but it's manageable; they know winning is fleeting for them. It's like losing to Northwestern, except without class and intelligence. It sucks when it happens, but it's rare.

I hadn't thought of that. that's the best come back i have heard today- while they're patting themselves on the back like they're the new england patriots/pittsburgh steelers just lay em low by comparing their accomplishment to nw- sort of like making them the 07 dolphins 08 lions. awesome. i'll be using that today.

Many Michigan fans claim the MSU rivalry ranks a distant third behind OSU and ND, but if you live in Michigan, losing to MSU is the worst kind of loss, there are Sparty's lurking everywhere waiting to tell you how much "scUM sucks, brah!" Losing to OSU hurts but there aren't Buckeyes waiting for you at work or school on Monday. A victory over MSU maintains status quo and therefore may not feel as good as a win over the Buckeyes that clinches a championship but boy, do the losses hurt a a LOT more.

If we win it "maintains the status quo" but if we lose we never hear the end of it. A win rarely means anything to UM in the grand scheme of things because we are generally (other than once or twice in a blue moon) supposed to kick their ass, so when we lose we don't hear the end of it for years. This rivalry is by all definitions a no win situation for UM.

is the guy(or gal) who never wears any State gear ever, never mentions they are a State fan, never even gives a hint........but the Monday after beating Michigan they are the biggest State fan ever and cannot wait to gloat and rub it in.

Well, you won. Congrats but to me, it seemed like S.O.S., same old spartans. And I love and you hate that Tate Forcier has three more years. Let me leave you with this...Next year in Ann Arbor, you are in big trouble and I know it and you know it.

I have expanded my initial post-game reaction to a top ten list of things you won't hear Sparty fans say:

10. "Uh, UM is 4-1 and we're only 2-3. We aren't really better than them, are
we?"
9. "We're going to a Florida bowl two years in a row."
8. "Let's not burn that couch and just celebrate indoors instead."
7. "Only thirty more victories in a row and the series is even."
6. "No, that's OK, I don't want another beer."
5. "I'm quitting my McDonald's job to go work for NASA."
4. "Wow, the coach has been here for five years now."
3. "Instead of bragging incessantly for the next year, I think I'll just show
some class and pretend we've actually beaten UM before."
2. "We just won a National Championship."
1. "Our cheerleaders sure look great today."

I was texting with a spartan during the game. They have so much self loathing. I tried to complement his team for good defense, and he blamed UM execution. When I wrote how Tate is becoming a legend with another 4th quarter comeback, he wrote that his D was to blame. He was more invested in believing that UM sucked than MSU played well. Ridiculous.

It is at times like this I'm glad I don't live in Michigan. Sev. brief comments.

1) Some Sparty fans are douchebags, others are just happy with the win and give some good natured ribbing to Michigan fans. This is true of all fans of all teams, isn't it?

2) Of course they're going to be insecure . . . wouldn't you feel that way given their record over more than 30 years?

3) It seems to me that some Michigan fans have WAY too much of their self-identity wrapped up in the football team.

4) It also seems to me that some Michigan fans are WAY too sore about our team losing. In other words, we can dish it out, but can we take it?

5) I wouldn't personally call MSU "little brother," but their reaction to the win fits the description to a T. I look forward to Michigan returning to greatness, but can also live with the reality of several years of adjustment. Until the general player ability improves, and the systems (both defense and offense) have a few years to gel, we can expect more of the same.

“Top to bottom Michigan is about excellence, greatness. You have my pledge I will carry forward the excellence of Michigan football." Jim Harbaugh, December 30, 2014

"Michigan never loses a game -- there's always an excuse!"(Guy in Royal Oak Brewery on Sat)
Trans: "Post-game analysis makes my head hurt. We won, so now I get to make up how it happened."

"Appalachian State! Ha ha!"(Guy walking by in Royal Oak)
Trans: "The biggest victory in the history of my program didn't involve my team even playing."

"I hate Michigan fans so much. You guys are so unbelievably arrogant! Wake up! You haven't been relevant since the BCS! Michigan State is the better BCS-era team!(Guy in Royal Oak Brewery on Sat)
Trans: "I read something on a message board somewhere that had this theory that Michigan was a regional powerhouse, and I kind of forgot all the specifics about that, but I'm pretty sure it means you suck."

"Michigan fans just can't admit that their team is now the Little Brother in this state(Guy in office)
Trans: "I know you are but what am I?"

"You guys must really want Rich Rodriguez fired now! That guy is the worst head coach in the league!"(guy at Open House yesterday).
Trans: "I believe that the best judge of a coach's ability is a sample of two games and what some guys in the local media who hate his program have to say about him."

"A loss for Michigan is like a win for Michigan State!"(guy in office)
Trans: "If you add Michigan losses to MSU wins for every year since 1970, Michigan State starts to look like a national power."

Kirk Cousins is a better quarterback than Tate Forcier(guy in office)
Trans: "Thanks to all those jagr-bombs, I pretty much have no recollection of anything that happened after the 2nd quarter on Saturday."

"Dantonio owns Michigan! You will never beat him because he cares more about this game than anything else!(younger brother)
Trans: "My head coach has an obsession with the State of Michigan which will see him go 3-9 every year, with wins against Michigan and two directional schools, until he is fired for driving his players to Ann Arbor in an attempt to jump a freshman Wolverine hockey player."

"I'm glad we won, because so long as that Forcier kid is in Ann Arbor, I don't think we'll see MSU win again for awhile...!"(Brother-in-law to be)
Trans: um....actually, that was pretty cool. Horray for cool Spartan fa..."...brah."
Dammit.

work somewhere where Sparty can't get in. The place I work has over 1500 employees worldwide and -1- Sparty graduate and she is in an office 2000 miles away from me. There are -0- Sparty graduates in my midwestern office of over 500.

I work with a few Spartan fans. They were reasonable. It may be partly because they're outnumbered here, but most recognized that their team isn't exactly having a championship season, so there's not THAT much to crow about.